Apogon nigrofasciatus

(Lachner, 1953)

Blackstriped Cardinalfish

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea and Christmas Island to the Tuamotu Islands, north to Southern Japan, and south to New Caledonia and Rapa.

Size: 4 inches (10 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits coastal reef flats and shallow lagoons and usually found at depths between 10 – 150 feet (3 – 45 m) where it feeds on small fishes and crustaceans/zooplankton during evening hours.

General Husbandry: Occasionally seen in the trade having a white body with several wide black horizontal bans.

Best maintained fish-only aquariums with subdued lighting, yet can also be maintained in reef aquariums, with both having several rocky caves/hiding areas. If maintained with moderately aggressive tankmates, will remain in hiding during daylight hours and may not get its fair share of the food when the aquarium is fed. If maintained with peaceful tankmates, will spend a good portion of its time in the aquarium open areas.

As to diet, products such as marine fish and crustacean flesh, clams, and other marine meaty foods should be enriched and finely chopped and fed several times daily.

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Percoidei

Family: Apogonidae

Subfamily: Apogoninae

Genus: Apogon/Ostorhinchus

FYI: One per aquarium.

A threat to small tankmates, shrimp, and small worms/feather dusters.

Can technically be found also listed as: Ostorhinchus nigrofasciatus.

Experience Level: Beginner

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: With caution

Invertebrate Safe: With caution

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful

Minimum Tank Size: 30+ gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 28°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5